“Where’s Waldo? Beauty and the Geek Edition” - An Interview with Beauty and the Geek 5’s Jonathan

RNO: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us at RNO. Although you were eliminated too soon, were you happy with the way in which you were edited?

Jonathan: You're very welcome and thanks for having me. I was not happy with the way I was edited for several reasons. I got the most phone numbers out of all the guys in the first challenge, and the second most overall, and this wasn't shown. That was extremely disappointing to me because I worked very hard in that challenge and it was a great accomplishment for me. I'd only gotten phone numbers from girls I just met twice in my entire life before this, and during the challenge I got 14 numbers in 15 minutes.

This was the main reason I was sent to elimination. During the Stair Ceremony Amanda even said the girls considered me their biggest threat. After I was eliminated I thought at least I did really well in the first episode and then it wasn't shown at all. In fact, the first episode barely showed me at all. I wasn't given an introduction and it was edited so I was practically invisible. The blog entry I made at the time sums it up well: “Where's Waldo? Beauty and the Geek Edition: I've been cast as Waldo. Can you find me in the first episode?”

I feel like I got a very unflattering and downright negative edit. Few of my accomplishments were shown and the ones that were shown were always given a negative angle. Like the only footage shown of someone commenting on my surviving the first elimination room is Tara saying negative things about me. When my velociraptor impersonation was shown, they showed the girls apparently not liking it. Which might not even be true, but when has that stopped an editor for a reality show?

When I was eliminated everyone came down to say goodbye and hug me, but in the actual episode they didn't shown any of that and only showed awkward silence. Those are just a few examples of why I didn't like my edit and didn't think it was fair. I think I was edited in such a manner to justify my elimination and the way in which I was eliminated.

RNO: Were you constantly aware of the cameras, or did there come a time when you could set aside the fact that you were being recorded?

Jonathan: I was always aware of the cameras but I did get used to them. Filming only remained really awkward during times like when I was reading the study material by myself and a camera crew was watching me a few inches away for 20 minutes straight.

RNO: Many viewers took issue with the way in which you were eliminated. Do you resent the way the twist was managed which led to your leaving the game?

Jonathan: Very much so! Being eliminated in that manner nearly ruined the entire experience for me. I was depressed for several weeks after I got home. I thought Beauty and the Geek was supposed to build geeks up, not tear them down. It was really against everything the show supposedly stood for. You'd think the producers would have had the sense to not do something that would lower a geek's confidence on a show that promotes itself as helping geeks.

RNO: The viewers were told that it was decided in the girls' meeting, where they were choosing partners, that the intention was for Tiffany to choose you. If she had told them that she was intending to chose Jim prior to the partner-selecting ceremony, do you believe that would have enabled you to stay in the game?

Jonathan: It probably would have enabled me to stay in the game. Randi told me after the show was over that she probably would have picked me, and I've heard from a couple of the other cast members that least one or two of the other girls would have probably also considered me.

Let me add that I don't have a problem with Tiffany switching to Jim. I do have a problem with her doing it in a way that made it impossible for me to even have the chance to get a partner. It was very wrong of her to do that.

RNO: Going into the show, was it mostly about winning for you or did you have other motivations for applying?

Jonathan: While I did want to win, that was not my primary goal or motivation. I've seen the transformations the guys on past seasons have gone through and I wanted to go through my own. Above all else I wanted to have fun and get paired with a beauty who wanted to grow and learn as much as I did.